Take a Walk Around Leland, MI

What the musician saw in the sculpture:

The sculpture drew me in. The cracks resonated with me, I felt a kinship with it.  I’m going through a big phase of self-realization that has shown me I have some big cracks within.  It’s only when you look at the sculpture from a certain angle that you see the cracks.  On one side you see just wholeness.  On the other you see the beauty in the flaws.  There’s beauty in the way things that are shattered get put back together that is beautiful. There is a vulnerability in hanging something up like that, to let people see all the way through.  It felt like a really revealing and vulnerable piece of work, That huge heavy thing hanging out there for all to see in its broken beauty.

The melody came first.  As a simple plain out front offering.  The lyric is the heart of the sculpture for me.  I used a metaphor of a vase dropping and shattering.  I liked the idea of trying to put it back together but it never being the way it was.  The magic of vulnerability of being flawed and being transparent about it is what the sculpture is all about for me.  It’s like being a musician on stage; Being seen as whole but the songs show the cracks and that is what is beautiful about it.

Watercolor Gouche on Arches Coldpressed paper 11X14 (8×10 and 11×14 prints for sale)

What the artist heard in the song:

I imagined the songwriter looking at his kids and how fast childhood passes so fast and that things will never be the same as it was in youth.  I thought about the bitter-sweet feeling that nothing lasts forever and the happiness of youth where you’re so whole.  You love looking at your kids at a certain age and you know it can’t last.

Wanted to capture that moment when you realize how beautiful something is and want to keep it that way forever. 

I put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect.  But the most beautiful things are impermanent and won’t last.

The lyric talked a lot about pieces being broken, held up to the light and never being the same again.  The flowers lean toward the light and are wilting.  They won’t stay beautiful.  The vase is broken but it still has the capacity to hold the bouquet together as a group, as a beautiful arrangement. 

Perfectionism has pulled me toward watercolors cause you can’t go back/  I wanted to create an image that showed that it doesn’t matter if you’re perfect.  Things can be beautiful AND broken. 

When you first see the painting you don’t notice the imperfections.  It’s just beauty.  It’s only when you look closer that you see the brokenness of the vase and wilting of the flowers.  It’s only when you look closely that you see the beauty in the brokenness and the actual authenticity of living.

Vase=when you’ve gone through different periods of life that have left a scar on you that you pretend that you’re fine but held up to the light it’s clear it’s broken

Flowers= growth that comes from moving through difficult times and focusing on hope.  The authenticity of showing up as you are even with scars of the past.

Light= continue to have hope about difficult situations and that you can continue to grow.

The big message:  Things can never be the same again and that can be sad, but can also make you focus and treasure the beauty that is fleeting.

What the poet saw in the painting:

It felt like the painting, woke me and freed me from behind a door I hadn’t walked through in far too long. The poem seemed to write itself and after, I felt lighter and straighter; grateful for the release similar to how it feels after a healing ceremony.

I thought it  (the painting) was a beautiful piece, simple with soft easy colors to keep the eyes flowing. I instantly felt peace in the mix of colors and had a sense of “preparedness” when I saw the cracks in the vase/jar the plants were in. I, then, noticed that the flowers were wilting and starting to die, a detail that escaped me because of how beautifully the colors of the whole composition grabbed me and settled my mind. I am always inspired by duality and balance which the painting that inspired my poem does really well. The “call to action” in the poem is really raising awareness around self-care and finding balance in our busy challenging lives.

Specs: 13x13x7

What the potter understood from the poem:

The poem was a call to action “don’t give up” it said, “there is hope in the world if you’re willing to look for it.”  The poem asked me to let go of preconceived judgments.  There is beauty in the brokenness.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  There is no absolute beauty.  It belongs to each person who is willing to see it and let it in.

I created a raw unglazed object straight out of the kiln.  My piece is about the intimate and pure eye one needs to have to the beauty in the world.  If we don’t discredit what on the outside seems unlovely, and are willing to take the risk of opening the lid, we find that there is beauty, and smoothness inside. 

I wanted to create an opportunity to see something rough and unglazed, to go through whatever is necessary; judgment, fear, disinterest, distrust.. to find willingness and curiosity to lean in, go inside and finally to be rewarded with beauty. 

The lavender inside the container represents the possibility of real love.  It’s a metaphor for my mother.  She loved lavender and taught me to love it.  I have passed that love onto my boys.  I like the idea that it’s the through line of love through the generations of my family.

Poem’s lines represented in pottery

Wilted Flowers point to the exterior finish of my vessle

Brokeness points to the vessle’s lavender which has wilted and died but if you squeeze it and interact with it, it lives on in the fragrance.

Vynal Canvas & Acrylic

What the Textile Designer got from the pottery

I don’t usually gravitate towards plums and magentas and orange but thats what  I was picking up on from the vessel I received.  What I felt from the pottery was a sense of safety and warmth with a secret hidden inside.  I felt a sense of maternal warmth on the inside contrasted against a grey sort of bleakness on the outside and thought about how two sensations weave together. 

I started thinking about infinity… the round shape…. a never-ending cycle.

In life you’re striving for a balance: Protect what is valuable and vulnerable inside while remaining soft and fluid.  It’s important to have boundaries but you don’t want to be hard.  It’s a constant challenge and balance for the purpose of self-preservation.    

The inside of the vessel reps who I am as a person… the outside is the semi-permeable membrane around me that allows that which is chosen and worthy to be let in.  

The jewels are the magenta.  The orange is what you put out there which is also a choice.  You get what you give.  The jewels are the brightness worth protecting AND worth sharing.